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George Pal's War of the Worlds (1975) TV Series
George Pál was working on a TV sequel to the 1953 version of ''The War of the Worlds'' in 1975 George Pal's War of the Worlds TV Series (Circa 1975), War of the Worlds Invasion: The Historical Perspective which had to be scrapped after his fatal heart attack in 1980. Although the 1988 ''War of the Worlds'' TV series was eventually made and broadcast instead all the previous artwork for George Pal's War of the Worlds TV series has been recovered Pegasus in Flight, War of the Worlds Invasion: The Historical Perspective including a small amount of its story and footage. Narrated Opening The War of the Worlds series begins in the aftermath of a devastating, decades long invasion of Earth as the alien motherships, having witnessed the complete annihilation their forces by the planet's bacteria, retreat into space in order to regroup. But the war is far from over. The Earth's International Federation sends six starships, including the hyperspace carrier Pegasus under Colonel James Anderson, into deep space in order to hunt down the aliens either to broker peace or eliminate them. While traveling in the double star system of Alpha Centauri, the Pegasus lost track of the alien motherships and could no longer communicate with Earth due to an ionised belt. Detecting a distress signal on a nearby planet (Dubbed Mega) with a similar atmosphere to Earth's Colonel Anderson assembled a team to go down in two small scout ships and investigate. Meanwhile the International Federation decides that as the Pegasus is the second ship to break contact in that area they can't risk any more and so recalls the other five ships for the defence of Earth. Upon arrival, the team discovers the sandblown remains of a previous expedition party sent from Earth 15 years earlier, along with the remains of the vehicles and several corpses. Exploring the planet's subterranean caves they find the same squat aliens from the earlier invasion but it's clear that they are merely servants to a greater unseen power. After clashing with with the original aliens, primate warriors, the mind-controlled survivors of the first expedition and many others the Pegasus finally finds the centre of the great evil enemy. They call the planet Endor, the Seat of Darkness. The planet is lit by sunlight dimmed by the thick clouds, its oceans reduced to bogs and its forests cluttered with waste dumps. Though it is now clear why the alien masterminds chose to colonise other planets like Mega and Earth their identity remains a mystery. Live Action Segment Colonel Anderson and one of his crew are shown trying to escape Endor. Though they manage to incapacitate out one of the brainwashed human guards and find menial disguises they are both captured before they can board the outbound alien freighter. Creative Team Along with George Pál, Matt Jefferies and Lee Vascay worked on the early designs for the show. Trivia * In shots of the creative team several old props are used in place of actual new designs including: ** An Enterprise nacelle and a Tholian ship (Star Trek). ** A flying saucer (Visit to A Small Planet, 1960). ** An array of rocket boosters (The Conquest of Space, 1955). * The live action segment showcases the use of Magicam to composite actors into miniature sets. https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/1975-war-of-the-worlds-tv-pitch-by-george-pal.113330/ Gallery Art Gallery War of the worlds 1975 pegasus 1.png|The Pegasus in flight. War of the worlds 1975 pegasus interior.png|The Bridge of the Pegasus. War of the worlds 1975 pegasus interior 2.png|Pegasus interior. War of the worlds 1975 international federation.png|The International Federation. War of the worlds 1975 pegasus shuttles on planet.png|The Scout Ships land on Mega. War of the worlds 1975 pegasus crew invastigating ruins.png|The wreckage of the Exploration Party. War of the worlds pegasus crew explores planet 1.png|The crew explore Mega. War of the worlds 1975 pegasus crew explores planet 2.png|The surface of Mega. War of the worlds 1975 aliens 1.png|The Original aliens emerge from the primordial slime. War of the worlds 1975 aliens 2.png| War of the worlds 1975 aliens 3.png| War of the worlds 1975 primates.png|Primate warriors War of the worlds 1975 mind controled robot colony.png|The mind-controlled survivors on Mega. Footage Gallery References Category:The War of the Worlds (1953 film) Category:Sequels